Home ›› 22 Jan 2022 ›› Front
The government has announced the closure of all educational institutions for the next two weeks, till February 6, as the country is witnessing a sharp spike in Covid-19 infections every day.
This came just four months after the resumption of in-person activities in educational institutions, with Health Minister Zahid Maleque making the announcement at a press briefing at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Friday.
He said anyone going outside must carry the vaccination certificate and show that upon request. “Whether you are going to visit a fair or watch a cricket match, it is a must that you carry your vaccination certificate.”
Also on Friday, the Cabinet Division issued fresh directives to rein in coronavirus transmissions in the country. It said not more than 100 people would be allowed to join state, social, political, and religious gatherings.
Besides, the attendees must have vaccination certificates or negative RT-PCR certificates obtained from tests done 24 hours before the programmes.
After a long shutdown of 18 months in the wake of the raging pandemic, educational institutions, including primary, secondary, and higher secondary ones, opened doors on September 12 last year to resume in-person classes and examinations.
The educational institutions had been shut since March 17, 2020, after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8 that year. Later, the closure was extended in phases.
At Friday’s briefing, the health minister said the decision to close schools, colleges, and universities was made after discussing the matter with the prime minister, aiming to contain the spread of infections.
“The next course of action will be taken after observing the overall situation for two weeks,” he said.
Zahid further said the government was going to cap the presence in offices and courts at 50 per cent.
A gazette notification would be issued in this regard soon, he added.
As part of the fresh measures announced by the Cabinet Division, wearing masks has been made mandatory at all sorts of gatherings, including markets, mosques, bus stands, launch terminals, and rail stations.
Bangladesh on Friday recorded 11,434 new Covid-19 cases, with the daily test positivity rate reaching 28.49 per cent.
During the 24-hour period, the DGHS recorded 12 more deaths. The death toll reached 28,192, and positive cases 16,64,616, since the country detected the first cases on March 8, 2020, and maiden deaths from the viral disease on March 18 that year.
Moreover, Bangladesh has detected 64 Omicron cases so far, according to GISAID, the global database of genomic data on coronavirus.
Hospitals overwhelmed
The health minister also told Friday’s briefing one-third of hospital beds in Dhaka were occupied by Covid-19 patients.
He said infections were increasing as people were not maintaining health rules even after the recent issuance of the 11-point directive. “No bed will remain empty in hospitals if this continues.”
The minister said the situation in hospitals was a growing concern as more than 2,000 people were being hospitalised with Covid-19 infections across the country every day, including 1,000 in hospitals in Dhaka city alone.
He directed the authorities concerned to step up monitoring to ensure that people were complying with health protocols.
Speaking about people’s presence at the Dhaka International Trade Fair, sports events in stadiums, and the Ekushey book fair, the minister said it would be hard to enforce the 100-person limit in those places, but carrying vaccination certificates and RT-PCR test results would remain applicable to everyone.
He said, “151 million vaccine doses have so far been administered in the country, including 92.4 million first and 58 million second shots. We have a stock of 90 million vaccines now.”
The minister added that 3,37,350 Johnson & Johnson doses had arrived from the US, and those would be administered soon.
NU suspends exams
The National University has suspended all examinations in the wake of rising infections.
Examinations would remain suspended until further notice, said its Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mashiur Rahman.
He said they had decided to shut the university and its affiliated colleges for two weeks in line with the government directive, but online classes would continue.
Besides, the University of Dhaka on Friday suspended all physical classes till February 6.
It said in a statement all online education activities would continue with the participation of teachers and students.
Moreover, all offices of the university would remain open on a limited scale from 9am to 1pm during this period. All emergency services – electricity, water, gas, internet, and healthcare – on the campus would also continue.
The university authorities advised students to stay in their respective dormitories adhering to all Covid-19 protocols and avoid all public gatherings. They also urged all not to arrange meetings or seminars on the campus.
“If we close dormitories, students will remain scattered and the virus spread risk will increase. That is why we are not planning to shut the dormitories,” said Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman.
